Ozone therapy is the most useful adjunctive, and in some cases, primary treatment for patients with lyme disease that I have found.

Rationale for ozone therapy in lyme disease

Ozone therapy plays an important role in my treatment of lyme disease. Chronic lyme is always a see-saw between an adequate immune system that holds the spirochetes at bay, and thus the patient is without symptoms, in remission, or even cured, or between an immune system that is not able to keep spirochete numbers in check, and thus patients need longer courses of antibiotics.

Antimicrobials can be used to lower the border of active infection (especially if elispot testing is found to still show active immune response against infection). Antimicrobial herbs can be very useful as they do not disrupt the gut bacteria as much as the prescription antibiotics. A gut microbiome further affected by medications may affect the immune system negatively as well.

Ozone therapy may speed up the ability of the immune system to catch up, improves symptoms and circulation, and protect the liver.

1) Effects on the immune system

Vaccines are widely known to prevent certain diseases by inducing an immune response, and thus if a patient is exposed to the same infectious agent, then an antibody response is mounted and infection tends to be milder or not occur. It was thought previously that vaccines were only useful for prevention. After all, if a patient had the actual infection, that patient's immune system would theoretically be saturated with all the "antigen" or foreign material from the infectious agent, and thus a maximal immune response would already be stimulated.

It turns out however, that vaccines given during an illness can be curative also. The most likely explanation is that vaccines present infectious "antigens" in a slightly different form from the natural infection. A slightly different stimulation could mount a different, possibly more effective immune response. Another possibility is that different routes of administration (eg injection into the muscle) other groups of immune tissue become active and thus immune cells can bypass blockades that might be present in the natural infection.

In the case of chronic infections, ozone therapy theoretically introduces foreign lyme antigens from the blood into foreign sites such as the muscle and the fat, activating different immune sites (minor autohemotherapy.) The immune stimulation is aided by inflammation from the blood now outside of the blood vessel, fats in the blood, and of course by the ozone.

To follow the immune system, the CD57 subset of natural killer cells of the immune system can be quantified. In lyme it is often low, with very sick patients being below 20, and average 40-60. Of note, there is newer research that shows CD57 can be associated with infections other than lyme, and also research showing CD57 may be more if an immunoregulatory cell and not directly associated with infection.

Ozone therapy may be recommended for patients with brain fog, fatigue and joint pain. It also may be recommended when patients are having Herxheimer die off reactions with antibiotic therapy. Chronic infections typically increase inflammation in the blood, increasing the thickness and viscosity of the blood.

The mild stress of ozone on red blood cells helps them to increase their glutathione, and helps them to unload oxygen to the tissues. A course of ozone therapy is typically done twice a week for 3-6 weeks, and then sometimes maintained at every 2-4 weeks until well, or stopped in other cases.

3) Ozone therapy protects the liver

The creation of peroxides from ozone therapy, on reinfusion intravenously, delivers a mild stress to the liver. The mild biochemical stress stimulates the liver to increase its glutathione, the main antioxidant it uses for detoxification. It has been shown to protective in cases of hepatitis.

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Studies on the biological effects of ozone: 5. Evaluation of immunological parameters and tolerability in normal volunteers receiving ambulatory autohaemotherapy.

Bocci V, Luzzi E, Corradeschi F, Paulesu L.Biotherapy. 1993-1994;7(2):83-90. A reasonable Approach for the Treatment of HIV Infection in the Early Phase with Ozonetherapy (Autohaemotherapy). How 'Inflammatory' Cytokines may have A therapeutic Role. Bocci V.

Any intravenous or invasive procedure carries risks. Many chronic conditions, including those with unclear singular or multifactorial causes, are controversial in both diagnosis and treatment standards. Be sure to seek qualified second opinions. Your family MD is a good choice, as are “Functional Medicine” MDs. Other ND’s are excellent as opinions and therapeutics vary.

The opinions expressed on these pages is representative of our professional experience and opinion. These may differ from what is considered standard or usual care.